The Arsenal fans we get here in the Football Transfer Tavern aren’t half repetitive are they?
Seemingly this time every year, our resident Gooners pipe up and claim that with two or three more players, they’d be the finished article who will win the Premier League while going all the way in Europe.
While to scoop the lot with two or three more additions may be extreme, you can kind of see where you’re going with it with Arsene Wenger having now established a decent core of players that only needs complimenting with a few careful additions.
For whatever reason however, Arsenal and Wenger often choose to enter the season without one or two of these vital cogs installed in their side and it is this point that wrangles with our Arsenal faithful.
Following the sale of Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona last summer, Arsenal didn’t replace him and actually waited until the January transfer window to make up for his loss with the signing of Villarreal’s Gabriel Paulista.
For long periods of the earlier part of 2014/15, the likes of Nacho Monreal and Mathieu Debuchy had to uncharacteristically fill in at centre back and suffering as a result, this was just not good enough on the part of Wenger.
This is why today, punters are piecing together five Gunners transfer targets that Arsenal simply cannot afford to miss out on this summer transfer window. Do you agree?
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 transfer targets Arsenal can’t afford to lose out on this summer.
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Petr Cech
It has been the most talked about Arsenal transfer rumour of the summer so far and each day that passes by, Gunners fans grow a little more worried that the deal might not come to fruition.
It is still fully expected that the Chelsea stopper will be joining Arsenal this summer after choosing them out of a decision to remain in London where he is settled, not to mention the fact that the Gunners have already qualified for the Champions League.
Cech would undoubtedly usurp David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny and would really add another dimension to this Gunners squad with his vast experience and point saving abilities as a shot stopper.
Of late, there has been talk that Chelsea won’t be selling Cech to their London rivals Arsenal without receiving a player in part-exchange and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been intensely linked with a Blues switch most recently.
However, The Mirror reported two days ago that Arsenal will reject a decision to part with the England international in the hopes that they can do a deal for Cech regardless.
It appears Chelsea aren’t making it easy for Arsenal – as you’d expect – but Cech is certainly a player Arsenal have to sign at all costs this summer you feel.
Morgan Schneiderlin
All of the talk surrounding Morgan Schneiderlin and a summer transfer to Arsenal seems to have subsided in recent times with Manchester United more intensely linked with the French international.
Throughout the latter part of the season, it almost appeared a formality that Arsene Wenger would identify the Southampton midfielder as his number one transfer priority for the summer but that tact seems to have changed somewhat.
Following the emergence of Francis Coquelin in the holding role, this has cast some doubt over whether Wenger really needs to spend the millions on another midfield reinforcement with Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta already at the club in reserve.
That said, our resident Arsenal fans would love somebody like Schneiderlin to arrive as an upgrade on Flamini and having made over 200 appearances for Southampton, it is clear that he is already vastly experienced in what it takes to succeed in English football.
The Schneiderlin Arsenal rumours could easily resurface again and at the moment, we can’t understand why the Gunners wouldn’t be in for a player that will certainly be on the move and would certainly improve their options no end.
Alexandre Lacazette
Olivier Giroud continues to split opinions here in the Football Transfer Tavern with some Arsenal fans claiming they are able to win the Premier League with the Frenchman as the main striking option while others are simply laughing at this statement.
Giroud struck 19 goals in all competitions last season and while this stat is rather impressive, it is still not mind blowing and is is the latter variety of striker that Arsenal fans really crave after getting used to world class exploits of players such as Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in seasons gone by.
With most Arsenal fans craving another striker this summer, most have uttered the name Alexandre Lacazette who struck a mighty haul of 27 goals in the 2014/15 campaign.
The sceptics will claim this is in the inferior Ligue 1 while the optimists will point to the fact he is only 24 and is most certainly on the rise for both club and country and could well be a star of the forthcoming Euro 2016 tournament hosted in his home nation of France.
The fact of the matter is that Arsenal love a Frenchie and with news of a Paris Saint-Germain transfer proving premature, Arsenal could yet be in for Europe’s latest prolific goalscorer.
Geoffrey Kondogbia
If Arsenal’s plans on landing Southampton’s Schneiderlin have truly gone cold, as they have at present, perhaps this is because the Gunners are more interested in landing his French international team-mate Geoffrey Kondogbia.
Gunners fans got a close-up glimpse of what Kondogbia can do in last season’s Champions League where the domineering midfielder struck a first-half strike in an eventual shock 3-1 victory for the Ligue 1 side.
What Kondogbia brings is control, power and a purposeful stride out of midfield and Arsenal have been lacking a true giant of a midfielder since the days of Patrick Vieira.
Kondogbia would add steal to this Arsenal side, as showcased by Francis Coquelin and you can tell that Arsene Wenger is coming round to the importance of now balancing his squad with defensive-minded additions.
The problem with Kondogbia is that he’d cost far more than the likes of Schneiderlin and it remains to be seen whether Wenger will stump up so much money for a player who is still a youngster despite his experiences accumulated so far.
Karim Benzema
The standout name on this list but a player who Arsene Wenger may be willing to bide his time over as the summer progresses.
We have seen in the past that you can never really tell who Arsenal are going to eventually sign with the Gunners often keeping their transfer business under wraps until the last minute.
After all, you never really saw the signings of Mesut Ozil, Nacho Monreal and Danny Welbeck coming until right before the signings were actually made showing that you can never really second guess Arsene Wenger.
With the French boss having waited until the last minute to grab Ozil when he became available back in 2013, perhaps he could do the same with Benzema – a player he’s always admired – this time around.
His potential availability will of course depend on whether Real Madrid go out and sign another Galactico this summer.
There is an onus on Rafael Benitez’s side to catch up with Barcelona and their scintillating attacking trio of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero a name who has been linked with Real, you could imagine they’d be interested in the Citizens man as the summer progresses.
You wouldn’t expect Los Blancos to stop at signing Manchester United’s David De Gea and if they were to publicly pursue Aguero, perhaps Benzema may become available right at the last minute.
One thing’s for sure, the prospect of signing of Benzema would make Arsenal fans forget about the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Jackson Martinez right away with the Frenchman being considered a truly world class forward.
